The Russian armed forces are not inflicting any missile, air, or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine, says Igor Konashenkov, chief spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the "special military operation" to protect the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), Moscow has issued a statement accusing the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of shelling the peaceful cities of Donbass.
Igor Konashenkov, the chief spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, issued a statement clarifying Moscow's official position. Igor also said that the servicemen of the border service of Ukraine did not show resistance to the Russian units.
Igor started his briefing by stating that the Russian armed forces launched a 'special military operation' on the directives of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Putin) on February 24 to protect the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
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The spokesperson further said that the people's militia of the DPR and LPR, after lengthy battles to repel the aggression of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the republics, in the morning mobilized and created groupings of troops.
They have launched a counteroffensive with fire support from the Russian armed forces, Igor said, adding that the militia has broken through the front line defense of the armed forces of Ukraine.
The "grouping of the LPR", advancing in the direction of the settlement of Shchastya, crossed the Seversky Donets and advanced one and a half kilometers while the "grouping of troops" of the DPR, advancing on Volnovakha, have advanced up to three kilometers.
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Igor stated that the troops of the DPR and LPR are fighting and inflicting fire damage on the enemy. "Ukrainian armed forces continue shelling the peaceful cities of Donbass. There are casualties among the civilian population of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics," he claimed.
"The Russian armed forces are not inflicting any missile, air, or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. Border personnel of Ukraine did not show resistance to the Russian units," he said.
"According to reconnaissance data, individual units and servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces are leaving their positions en masse, abandoning their weapons. The positions of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that laid down their arms are not subjected to strikes," he added.
Seeking to draw the attention of the media towards propaganda videos showing damage caused by Russian armed forces, Igor said that the security service of Ukraine was carrying out activities as per well-known templates.
"In Ukrainian cities, staged video filming was carried out with allegedly mass casualties among the civilian population of Ukraine," he said.
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"Prepared videos are distributed through controlled telegram channels and social networks. Their goal is to accuse the Russian Federation of allegedly indiscriminate and disproportionate strikes to intimidate the civilian population and broadcast on Western TV channels," he added.
The chief spokesperson reiterated that Russian armed forces did not strike at the cities of Ukraine or threaten the civilian population.
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